Update for Late April Grunion Runs

A Message from Karen Martin, Ph.D., Pepperdine Professor of Biology

APRIL IS CLOSED SEASON FOR CALIFORNIA GRUNION: No Take, Observe Only. We
Greeters and our grunion faced some challenges during this time of peak
spawning. Heavy surf in the middle of the month may have washed out some of
the eggs from the previous run before they were ready. Then, heavy surf,
rain, and thunderstorms brought debris and remodeling of the shoreline, and
interfered with grunion spawning. And yet, you brave adventurous Grunion
Greeters went out to find your fish.

Reactions from Observers

First-time Grunion Greeter Georgia McC. reports a "mind blowing
experience. Glistening in all their mating splendor were droves of silvery
squiggling fish, determined to get a job done. What magic! I kept peering
down at them saying 'You're so pretty!'" Her partner, Grunion Greeter
Emily J., "said they were "scouts" to check things out before
giving the massive go ahead. She was right! They were like commandos before
the Normandy invasion. They started coming up on the beach - and coming and
coming as the tide got higher, yet more fishies came and kept coming ashore
with each wave. Then POOF! They vanished.

Grunion Greeter Julianne S. saw "the largest run, in terms of length
of the beach, I have ever seen in 4 years of monitoring this beach, but not
a W5 due to visible sand between grunion. The "head grunion"
checked in right on the money. It seems they received that infamous memo
about the run times. A few predators were present on the beach, but fewer
than usual and only one individual got a tasty morsel. Most predators left
by the time the run got going. Excellent season thus far."

JB asked, "The weather says thunderstorms for tomorrow; do the
grunion run during rain?" They usually don't, but Rich D. assures us
"I am your man and will go if it is raining or not." (The sky
cleared up for him.) "We checked the beach report card after the rains
today and (our beach) received a D/F. We are going to wait to do the run
next weekend when the weather and water toxicity level is better,"
e-mailed one Greeter. We appreciate your concerns, but the fish don't read
the report cards before coming in to spawn. Rose Marie G. "didn't
expect much activity due to an earlier rainfall, but the grunion did not
disappoint and showed up in large numbers over a sustained period of time. A
great night of greeting!"

Predators

Multiple guitarfish were preying on the grunion. Melissa S. reported
"surf so intense that grunion were being washed up onto the boardwalk.
Onlookers were helping them, though." At a different beach, Laura C.
saw "Yet another fabulous run. We had to rescue quite a few (50-100 or
so) stranded fish who came in on a heavy surge and got stuck over a slope in
the beach. We figured it worked at least a little towards counterbalancing
the poaching we've been seeing!"

It's always fine to rescue grunion from stranding if you see them high on
the beach. Georgia McC.'s group "put into place a full blown
"Leave No Grunion Behind" campaign, with other beach dwellers
helping. But we had mass casualties -100 or more dead I'm certain. One
massive wave had washed up so high - then never went that high again and
they were left on the bluff. Also a lot were caught in the storm
drain." The next morning on another beach, Gaynell S. reported
"over a hundred casualties and sparrows and other birds were scavenging
the grunion and some roe."

Cut Banks

Many beaches have cut banks at this time. Jessica A. notes "that
beach has changed quite a bit since last year. There is now kind of a cliff
of sand at the high tide mark rather than the gentle slope all the way up
the beach it used to be. We noticed that there were fish but they were
mostly in the areas that had a gentle slope. As the tide receded and most of
the waves didn't reach as high as the sand wall, we started to see the fish
in bigger groups and then they just kept coming. All in all it was a good
run and a fun night."

Lisa C. saw "a little cliff that's been dug out by the waves, and
all the eggs were deposited right underneath that little cliff." Paul
T. on a different beach noted, "Rough surf tended to discourage grunion
from coming ashore as many were seen in the water. Steep shoreline also
increased the difficulty of bedding in by females." Elsewhere, a
"sand bar was very steep so the grunion were struggling to stick on. No
spawning and we also saw reflecting waves," reported Angela L.
"The sand formed a wall about 1 to 3 feet high for most of this stretch
of beach. The waves would hit this wall of sand before they could reach
their natural extension," according to Kimberly Y. Keith G. says,
"Compared to 2 weeks ago, ~3-4 feet of sand eroded away by recent storm
surf activity." Because of a "very high tide, initially spilling
over seawall," Sue S. was "not able to go on the beach for first
15 minutes." "Not much of the beach was accessible because of the
high tide and heavy surf" for Pearl C.

The cut banks are mostly natural, but in a few cases there are other
sources. Several "beaches have recently received considerable
quantities of dredged sand discharged in the high upper intertidal zone and
moved around by a skiploader. The waves were eroding this high platform and
forming cut banks ranging from 1 - 3 feet high at the upper end of the swash
zone. Grunion were spawning immediately below the cut bank and, as the tide
flooded, the bank was collapsing and burying the eggs deeper. Some grunion
were actually caught and partially or completely buried in the sand as the
bank collapsed, causing some mortality" reports Dennis L. in San Diego
County. In Orange County, Chris L. says "The winds had pushed a lot of
sand up on the beach near the homes last week. The beach tractors were
bringing it back toward the waterline during the day. The problem is that
they pushed it at least 10-15 feet closer to the water than they should
have. They covered eggs from early April and left a 4 foot drop off in many
spots. The incoming waves would hit this wall of sand, and have no place to
go. No beach for Grunion to lay eggs."

Scrambled Eggs

Jerry L., visiting from Boston on business, "walked the beach, while an
operator with a front end loader, was skimming along the highest edge
reached by the breaking waves and pushing washed up flotsam, mostly kelp,
into large piles. He had a large rake on a trailer behind him, which he'd
clearly been using a lot. What happens to the grunion eggs when one of these
behemoths drives over them or rakes them and their protective sand into
heaps?" If beach grooming takes place above the high tide mark then the
grunion eggs are not disturbed. We ask our colleagues that manage and
maintain California beaches to groom only above the high tide mark, where no
grunion eggs are found. The highest waves reach above that mark on the day
of the highest tides; otherwise they don't.

And a final note about POACHING: April and May are CLOSED SEASON, no take of
any kind is allowed for the grunion. "About 10 people had HUGE clear
plastic bags filled with fish. Ted informed them of the law and one man
dumped the fish out, another young teen said 'so what'," Sue M. reports
from Orange County. Department of Fish and Game wardens will be patrolling
this beach on future runs. Ray W. in San Diego County says, "The run
seemed to die off when 6 young adults came with flashlights and one got down
on the shore and walked among the fish and picked one up." Grunion are
facing enough adversity this spring without adding illegal fishing to their
troubles. Please report any poaching to the 1-888-DFG-CALTIP Fish & Game
hot line!

Bicoastal Grunion Greeters Madeline and Ben from Concord, MA have been
hearing about the mysterious fish for years from their aunt Melissa, and saw
them for the first time last week.

Thanks for your amazing and inspiring dedication to our surfing
silversides. Please be sure to submit your observations promptly and sign up
to monitor the next runs after the full moon, May 4 and 5. May
the fish be with you!